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Top 10 New Los Angeles Brunches

Updated on May 31, 2017

House-smoked salmon at Connie & Ted's | Photo by Joshua Lurie

Los Angeles brunch service continues to benefit from a steady stream of talented chefs and a bumper crop of new restaurants. Weekends now command attention from serious diners, and not just from people who are craving a hangover cure. Discover 10 of the most exhilarating brunch options in Los Angeles, all with standout food and drinks.

Baltaire

Brentwood denizens have a preponderance of Italian restaurants at their disposal. Coral Tree Café’s owners are once again aiding the neighborhood’s diversification efforts with Baltaire, a stylish steakhouse with a patio that touts potted trees and a retractable roof for rain and sun, with a nice breeze. Executive chef Travis Strickland helps conduct an impressive Sunday brunch service. Start with a dozen pristine oysters that bridge the West Coast and East Coast divide and could include Kusshi and Beausoleil. Shakshuka arrives in a skillet with baked eggs topping spicy tomato sauce and chickpeas, with salty crumbled Feta cheese. If you’re looking to go all out, biscuits come piled with Alaskan King crab, pork sausage gravy, and poached egg. The bar brings refreshment in the form of sparkling wine and cocktails like the Baltaire Bloody Mary and Santa Monica Sunset.

Connie and Ted's

The more casual seafood focused restaurant from chef Michael Cimarusti and front of house partner Donato Poto, Connie & Ted's honors Cimarusti’s maternal grandparents, who taught him to fish in Rhode Island. Located in West Hollywood, the sprawling New England-inspired seafood “shack” features a modern brunch befitting the restaurant’s setting. They present Hog Island Sweetwater oysters on the half-shell with a punchy combo of pickled onion, celery leaf, tomato juice and Tabasco. A peeky-toe crab and lobster omelette is bursting with seafood and plated with fines herbes beurre blanc and grilled Pullman bread. House-smoked King salmon arrives on a jumbo buckwheat blini with crème fraiche, crumbles of hard-cooked egg, red onion, and capers. Brunch also allows for indulgences like Connie’s cinnamon roll (“to start or for dessert”) slathered with nutmeg, orange zest, and cream cheese icing. Embrace their drinking policy (“If it is before noon, we won’t tell”) and order brunch beverages like the Bloody Mary made with celery-bay leaf infused vodka, or Rhode Island coffee milk with Rhode Island coffee syrup, whole milk, nutmeg, and a pour of Selvarey cacao-infused rum.

Odys + Penelope

Karen Hatfield and husband Quinn respectively handle the sweet and savory aspects of this industrial chic restaurant, which resides down the block from sister restaurant The Sycamore Kitchen and amidst La Brea Avenue’s trendy lifestyle shops. The impressive restaurant features wood in their welcoming design, which includes towering ceilings and comfortable booths. Wood also factors into a kitchen that employs three different grills and a smoker, each of which burns a different varietal. By all means start with biscuit-like skillet buns slathered with maple brown butter glaze and served with soft salted butter. In season, grilled melon salad with arugula, roasted beets, chickpeas, wheat berries, and paprika yogurt is a refreshing counterpart to other “small bites + starters.” The Hatfields also excel with seemingly simple dishes. Fluffy cornmeal ricotta pancakes benefit from the addition of plump Pudwill blueberries. A luxurious baked omelette with crispy edges and gooey center cradles black forest ham and molten Swiss cheese. Each order comes topped with a dollop of smoked hazelnut Romesco and lemon herb salad.

Otium

Restaurants are rarely as high profile as Otium, the grand destination from Sprout Restaurant Group and vaunted chef Timothy Hollingsworth that opened alongside The Broad Museum at Downtown L.A.’s Bunker Hill. Office towers rise above Otium, but the space still feels welcoming, with a spacious patio that fronts a lawn and a modern design with warm wood elements and an open kitchen. Hollingsworth is rooted in fine dining, which is evident in plating and sourcing, but he’s a chef who can still have some fun. Funnel cake, normally fair food, comes dressed with dollops of rich foie gras mousse, tangy balsamic reduction, sweet strawberries, and enlightening fennel (stalks and fronds). Hangtown fry riffs on the popular California gold miner dish from the 19th century - in this case it's an omelette with bacon, Parmesan mousse, chive blossoms, and fried oysters. Otium even has a tantalizing off-menu dish, smoked French toast nuggets with pork belly, maple cream, black truffle berry jam, and decorative beet leaves. Their untraditional Bloody Mary combines vodka, smoked tomatoes, clam juice, and pork fat.

Redbird

Located in the former Vibiana cathedral rectory, Redbird is a spectacular restaurant from chef Neal Fraser and front of house (and life) partner Amy Knoll Fraser. The light is so good in the dining room that you might think the design is heaven sent. The food is a refined blend of European and regional American influences. A parade of house-made pastries could include a blueberry and ricotta Danish, Berliner bursting with milk chocolate pastry cream, or butter Bostock crafted with brioche, toasted almond, and peach jam. Seasonal quiche may contain morels, ramps, and Gruyere. Regardless, each slab features a flaky crust and comes with endive salad. Hopping John is a rich play on a Southern classic made with Sea Island peas, Carolina gold rice, Benton’s ham, fried egg, and collard greens. If you’re eating light, spring chicken salad is a great choice co-starring crunchy snap peas, asparagus, soft egg, radish, mizuna, and tangy kefir ranch. Head bartender Tobin Shea serves a classic Bloody Mary, as well as a unique Modern Mary with clarified tomato and lemon, white balsamic, fennel, basil, pepper vodka, and soda for fizz.

Viviane opened in 2015, located at the Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills. Bombet Hospitality Group partners Stephane Bombet and Francois Renaud recruited chef Michael Hung to helm the kitchen of this fashionable restaurant, which rings the pool. Star designer Kelly Wearstler decorated loungey bungalows with colorful geometric patterns and punctuated wood tables with plants. Considering Avalon is such a stylish hotel, it’s a bit surprising to find so much comfort on the brunch menu. Hung has earned growing a reputation for his fried chicken, which is buttermilk brined for 12 hours, seasoned with sage, thyme, and smoked paprika, and served with Savoy cabbage slaw and spicy ranch dressing. Salads are always in play and could include little gem lettuces dressed with roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, green beans, and spicy ranch dressing. Depending on the time of year, feathery lemon ricotta pancakes come with either stewed fall fruits or Champagne macerated berries. A knockout punch takes the form of brioche French toast - a gigantic slab oozes with dark chocolate ganache, topped with berry compote and a cloud of whipped cream. Top-flight bartender Ryan Wainwright makes sure imbibing goes smoothly all day long.